Lids for containers, such as cups, are well known in the beverage container industry. Cup lids, both disposable and reusable, with spill inhibiting features are also well known. One aspect of spill inhibiting lids, is a mechanism, such as a closure, allowing the lid to be reclosed after it has been opened, reducing the likelihood of spillage. However, the conventional manufacturing methods of disposable and reusable lids create tradeoffs in cost and performance.
The reusable variety of recloseable lids are typically more expensive to manufacturer in that the closing mechanism are capable of being manufactured out of stronger material, which allows for stronger and more precise closure configurations. A reusable recloseable lid may be formed by manufacturing two separate parts, which are then assembled to complete the closure mechanism. The use of two parts can allow for stronger manufacture of each part, and can further allow for a sophisticated reclosing mechanism. Reusable lids are typically made of thicker and more expensive material than disposable lids. This is due to the typical use of injection molding or similar as the manufacturing process. Further, reusable recloseable lids may have rubber or other parts added to enhance sealing to further prevent spillage. However, these factors lead to a lid that is expensive to manufacture, and therefore not suited for use as a disposal lid.
Disposable lids are less expensive to manufacturer due to the efficiencies typical of the thermoplastic manufacturing process used for disposable lids. Thermoplastic lids are thin and less durable compared to reusable injection molded lids. Thermoplastic lids such as this are easily mass produced and provide a cheap, stackable lid for a single use modality in the beverage industry. However, due to the thinner plastic and the thermoplastic manufacturing process, sophisticated closure methods are difficult to form in a thermoplastic lid. Due to this, existing thermoplastic disposable lids are typically formed as one-part lids with the recloseable feature fabricated connected to, or as part of the main body of the lid, in a single-part manufacturing process.
Existing reclosing features on disposable lids are typically limited by the one step thermoplastic process to be attached to the main body of the lid or require concentric pieces for ease of placement during assembly. Such reclosing features also necessarily have to bend or flex at some point when transitioning between positions. This bending or flexing of the thermoplastic naturally opposes the formed shape of the features, creating resistance that prevents the reclosing features from reliably remaining in place over the span of use.
The present invention relates to a thermoformed, two-part, stackable, recloseable, disposable, lid for a container, such as a cup. In one aspect, a pivoting arm is fabricated separate from the main body of the lid, and then assembled in an off center configuration onto the main body of the lid. The two-part configuration allows the closure mechanism to move in a rotating motion without opposing the natural structural properties of the thermoformed plastic. Another aspect is that the two-part configuration allows for a more precise and reliable closure which is more typical of a reusable lid.
In certain embodiments, a dome configuration allows for an increase in the volume beyond that of the cup for hot or cold beverages. A further aspect of embodiments of the invention is the stackable nature of the lids. The pivoting arm is formed and assembled to the body of the lid in a manner so that the pivoting arm does not inhibit stacking.